countrymen

noun

plural of countryman
1
as in compatriots
a person living in or originally from the same country as another met a fellow Canadian countryman while traveling in France

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in peasants
an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country though neither well-educated nor well-dressed, the countryman presented the farmers' case before the state legislature

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of countrymen He’s particularly drawn to episodes that are discomforting for his countrymen—the Dreyfus Affair, and, a recent obsession, French accommodation in Nazi rule during the Occupation, a national embarrassment that was long passed over in silence. — David Denby, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026 Now, after entering its 20th week at Number One, the track has cruised past her fellow countrymen and is the second longest-running Number One single in Billboard Hot 100 history. — Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 31 Aug. 2026 The Khmer Rouge group that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 was accused of genocide for causing the deaths of so many countrymen from executions, starvation and lack of medical care due to its radical policies. — Sopheng Cheang, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2026 The Khmer Rouge group that ruled Cambodia from 1975–79 was accused of genocide for causing the deaths of so many of their countrymen from executions, starvation, and lack of medical care due to its radical policies. — ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026 Disliked, even hated, by millions of his countrymen, and despised by possibly billions abroad, Trump has a target on his back. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2026 And his space adventure became a fleeting moment of hope just as Afghanistan descended into civil war, forcing millions of his countrymen and countrywomen into exile. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 5 Aug. 2026 From garage tech to global powerhouse When Russia invaded Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for foreign military aid from the West and exhorted his countrymen to build makeshift weapons for the resistance. — Thomas Nagorski, Time, 27 July 2026 That game kicked off at 2am Monday in England, as supporters watched their countrymen play with grit and chemistry in various weird and wonderful ways, an experience for the ages. — George Edwards, New York Times, 11 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for countrymen
  1. compatriots
  2. peasants
  3. citizens
  4. provincials
  5. hicks
  6. mountaineers
  7. clowns
  8. yokels
Noun
  • Late in the novel, Noa, Nicole, and their newfound compatriots get into a van with a group of musical hermits who have fled to the mountains to escape the violence of Ecuadorian society.
    — Robert Rubsam, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Robert Ladd as to the gang ties of Davis and his compatriots.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of compatriots
Noun
  • Mansour persevered, turning out bright canvases of olive groves and peasants that brought to mind his former home and were well received.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Just last week, Minnesota strolled into San Francisco, delivered a clinical beatdown and strutted off the floor like brash royalty, reminding the peasants of their place.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of peasants
Noun
  • In this small city, citizens were brought together by frustration over large, corporate health systems that can seem to put profits over patients.
    — Noam Levey, NPR, 1 Sep. 2026
  • The national police and the army were helping, along with citizens, Thapa said.
    — Kevin Shalvey, ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of citizens
Noun
  • Marlowe, the son of a poor Canterbury cobbler, and Shakespeare, the son of a Stratford glover and alderman, were both unlikely artistic geniuses, provincials in a nation in which social class was rigidly fixed.
    — Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor, 10 Sep. 2025
Definition of provincials
Noun
  • So a bunch of hicks from Topeka were left up to our own devices of going down to Robert Hall and finding something that might be kind of cool.
    — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2026
Definition of hicks
Noun
  • The bodies of two Belgian mountaineers who went missing in the Swiss Alps more than three decades ago have been found, officials said.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The most recent example occurred July 26 when a hiker on the Trift Glacier discovered the remains of two mountaineers who had been missing since 1992 – according to Swiss police.
    — James Powel, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of mountaineers
Noun
  • Yusef Toubassi sits with his grandson Masa, looking on as children run by with cheeks painted bright colors and others howling with joy as clowns spin them around.
    — Dina Kraft, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Aug. 2026
  • One morning during my stay, there were even clowns buzzing about—a thrill to receive a balloon poodle alongside my morning flat white.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 July 2026
Definition of clowns
Noun
  • It was left to the feds in Boston to arrest Farwell, after Meatball’s local yokels adamantly refused to do anything other than try to broom the crime by one of their own.
    — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 26 Apr. 2026
Definition of yokels

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countryman
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country mile
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Cite this Entry

“Countrymen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/countrymen. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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